Part Four: Confrontation
Cass III (The Third Planet of the Eta Cassiopeiae System, 20LY from Sol and held in fealty for the Terran Star Empire by the Imperial House of Lein Rocha)
The Watcher
The Interrogator is getting close now. He knows the identities of those that were in the cell, the cell he has single handily decimated. He currently turns his attention towards me, following his victims’ trail back to their leader. I am strangely exhilarated, no one has come this close before. I am only one step ahead of him, the efficacy of a single person’s psychological inhibitor is all that stands between my hunter and me. I wonder if that person will withstand The Interrogator's skilled and persistent probing. I wonder also if The Telepath will remain loyal to his home or finally completely join the regime that suppresses his people. Ah! Here they come now, I suspect I am about to find out.
Now!
"Thank you for seeing me again Captain Beydo." Sam approached the large puffy faced Chief of Police, who scowled at him from behind his desk. Ignoring Sam’s outstretched hand again as he motioned him to sit down opposite.
“You killed the Governor’s Secretary’s daughter,” this was a statement of fact, not a question.
“And you had your informant killed, sorry, I mean executed.” Beydo shrugged.
“Him? Higani here can tell you all about him, can’t you Vasco.” Higani, from his position just behind Sam’s right shoulder, shifted his feet uncomfortably under his superior’s gaze.
“He already has," Sam advised the chief of police, who leant forward, eyeing from across the desk with undisguised contempt.
“Then you know he was a paid informant, an asset I had hoped would get us close to what we suspected was a dangerous nest of dissidents.”
“Yet you had him killed,” Sam reminded him.
“He was no good to me anymore was he," Beydo accused, slamming a hand down loudly with a sharp slap, "not after you’d finished with ‘im.”
This was not going as well as Sam had hoped. It seemed that Beydo was going to try and bluff it out, so Sam decided to take a direct approach.
"Did you recruit Melissa Guzman, Paccoro Otero and Jorge Alvero into a secret terrorist organisation?" Beydo stared at Sam in disbelief for a few seconds before bursting out into a deep rolling laugh.
"My god man," he spluttered, "are you mad?"
The standoff lasted an hour, Beydo stanchly maintaining that he had been leading a covert operation, running Alvero as a double agent. Sam on the other had damn well knew that he was lying, but could not challenge directly without revealing himself to be an Empath. It was Higani who finally broke the stalemate.
"Chief," he suddenly interrupted," please sir, give it up." Sam and Beydo stopped what had become a pointless circular argument and Sam craned his head round to see what the usually reticent lieutenant had to say
"Vasco?" Sam sensed hurt surprise from Beydo.
"Chief," Higani continued, his voice quiet and regretful, "Harford please, you know you can’t lie to me, I see your confession as clear as if you had written it on a datapad."
As Sam turned back to confront the Chief he sensed a sudden change in his mood, a mixture of anger, fear and resolve. By the time he had turned to face Beydo, the Chief was already aiming a laser pistol at him. An impulsive move on Beydo’s part, otherwise Sam would have been ready for him.
The Watcher
Now I know. The Telepath has shown his true colours and has sided with The Interrogator. Interesting that a native Cassian would side with the regime while a Lein Rochan executive remains loyal to the cause. I had such hope for Higani, his abilities would have been useful in the rebellion, the cause to bring House Lein Rocha down to its knees. It has taken me a long time to get where I am now, to a position of influence and power. I will not let it end here, now, like this.
Now!
“Now Beydo,” Sam said cautiously, holding his hand up open palmed, “let’s not do anything rash, there’s still a way out of this for you, but not if you kill me.”
“Shut up you scrawny little bastard,” Beydo snapped, “You know as well as I do the only outcome for me is a firing squad.” With sharp angry gestures, Beydo told Sam and Higani to keep their hands in view, Higani with his held up like some sap from an old pulp crime vid and Sam, palms down on the desk top before him. Sam could sense Higani’s inner conflict, he was torn between loyalty to his office and loyalty to his friend. There was also fear, which told Sam that Beydo was capable of anything. Beydo on the other hand had become calm, resolved even, a state of mind which scared Sam the most as it made Beydo unpredictable.
“So what happens now? Sam asked.
“What do you suggest,” Beydo sneered, “a soliloquy? Is this where I describe my devious plot before surrendering gracefully?” Sam forced a smile, trying to appear relaxed, trying to encourage some empathy from the man on the other side of the table. The man with the gun, the man who had hated him from the moment they had met.
“No,” Sam agreed, “I won’t insult you, you’re perfectly correct. Eventually we will kill you. You are Lein Rochan, you know it is the only way. Your only chance is to barter for how and when it happens. Tell me the identity of any remaining dissidents in your organisation, provide us with a full account of your operation and I will personally ensure that your final days are very comfortable and you have a painless death at the end of it.”
“Huh!” Beydo snorted.
“It’s your only chance Harford,” Higani interrupted. Beydo gave him a cold stare before turning his attention back to Sam.
“Alright,” he said finally, after contemplating the specialist agent’s dark eyes for a few seconds, “I’ll cooperate, I’ll tell you what you want to know. I’m the last, there is no one left under me, you have killed them all.”
“Higani?” Sam asked and the telepath confirmed that Beydo was telling the truth.
“Beydo,” Sam continued, “I need you to put down the gun before we can discuss any terms regarding your arrest and subsequent treatment.” Beydo just stared back expressionlessly and then he smiled.
“Harford No!” That was Higani screaming from behind Sam, just seconds before Beydo turned his laser on himself and disintegrated a sizable portion of his head.
The Watcher
I am safe, Beydo’s conditioning held out and his loyalty led him to the only action he had left. A cell is destroyed and a potential recruit is lost, though I may not give up on The Telepath just yet, he would make an invaluable asset, if only I could find a lever. The Interrogator? He is satisfied and will leave this planet to report that all is now well here on Cass.
Yes, it is a shame, years of planning wasted, Beydo’s cell, central to my plot, now gone, delaying everything by years. But overall? It is merely a delay, the inevitable will go ahead and I am a very patient man.
I will now remotely short-circuit the surveillance devices in Beydo’s office, long before they can be discovered and tracked back to me. There, I am safe again, all links to Beydo now severed.
I have already activated one of my other cells, a member of which is visiting my employer this very moment. Ah! My employer calls.
“One moment Sir,” I tell him via the intercom, “I shall be along directly.”
I am Jaikab again, the loyal servant to a bereaved government official. The interview is over and I am to show his guest out of the mansion. I have made sure that she is the best of all the available candidates, ideal for the post of personal assistant, someone who can assist my poor employer in keeping ahead of his duties during this difficult time. Maybe she will become an invaluable aide, a friend and confident, maybe even a surrogate daughter to replace the one he lost. Either that or maybe a lover in time. For now however, she only needs to take away some of the burden while he organises his daughter’s funeral.
The End.
© 2015 Chris Raven
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Chris Raven
Regina Puckett
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br /> Dani J Caile
Peter John
Kalyan Mattaparthi
James Gordon
Donny Swords
C. S. Johnson
Ray Foster
Chris Raven